King's Speech 2023 - Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

“Legislation will be introduced to protect public premises from terrorism in light of the Manchester Arena attack.”

• In 2017, 22 victims lost their lives to a senseless terror attack at the Manchester Arena.

• The Terrorism (Protection of Premises Bill) – known as Martyn’s Law – will deliver on the manifesto commitment to “improve the safety and security of public venues” and keep the British public safe from terrorism.

• Through Martyn’s Law, premises will be better prepared and ready to respond in the event of a terrorist attack. Simple steps save lives.

What does the Bill do?

• The Bill improves protective security and organisational preparedness across the UK by mandating, for the first time, those responsible for certain premises and events to consider the terrorist risk and how they would respond to an attack.

• The Bill will require certain venues to fulfil necessary but proportionate steps according to their capacity to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and reduce harm. The duties that premises will have will depend on the size of the venue. Premises and events with a capacity of 800 or above will be in the enhanced tier, while premises with a capacity of 100 to 799 will be in the standard tier.

• Enhanced tier: premises and events in the enhanced tier will be required to take steps to ensure preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks.

• Those responsible for an enhanced duty premises or qualifying public events must:
• • notify the regulator of their premise or event;
  • take ‘reasonably practicable’ measures that will reduce the risk of a terrorist attack occurring or physical harm being caused. The reasonably practicable test is utilised in other regulatory regimes e.g. Health and Safety, and will enable organisations to tailor their approach to the nature of the premises, and their activities and resources;
  • keep and maintain a security document, aided by an assessment of the terrorism risk, which must also be provided to the regulator; and
  • if the responsible person is a body corporate, they must appoint an individual as the designated senior individual for the premise or event.
  • • If enhanced duty premises and qualifying public events do not comply with these requirements, the regulator will be able to issue a maximum fixed penalty of the higher of £18 million or 5 per cent of worldwide revenue.
    • Standard tier: this will apply to premises with a capacity between 100 and 799 people. The Government wants to ensure businesses and venues can deliver the standard tier duty rather than imposing conditions upon them that they will struggle to meet. This will mean the law stands the test of time, and be accessible, proportionate and deliverable for smaller venues.
    • That is why ahead of introducing the Bill in Parliament, we will launch a consultation on the standard tier to ensure the Bill’s measures strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises such as village halls, churches and other community venues. This follows concerns raised about the implications of the standard tier through the pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill earlier this year.

    Territorial extent and application

    • The Bill will extend and apply to the whole of the United Kingdom.

    Key facts

    • Since 2017, there have been 14 domestic terror attacks in the UK, and agencies and law enforcement have disrupted 39 late-stage plots.
    • Since 2005, there have been at least two attacks against places of worship, with an additional attack conducted directly outside a place of worship (Finsbury Park Mosque).
    • Research institute RAND Europe assessed the indirect cost of terrorism in the UK from the five attacks in 2017 to be £3.4 billion (2020-21 prices).
    • Independent research conducted in 2019 showed that, without legal compulsion, counter terrorism security efforts are often deprioritised behind other legally required activities (e.g. fire safety). Resulting in inconsistent consideration and application of security processes and measures.
    • 70 per cent of respondents to the public consultation in 2021 agreed that those responsible for publicly accessible locations should take appropriate and proportionate measures to protect the public from attacks and should prepare their staff to respond appropriately in the event of a terrorist attack.